Last week I had my first taste of rhubarb and asparagus. I may have been jumping the gun a bit, but for me, those two tastes symbolize spring more than the presence of tulips or the gentle warmth of sun. (I'm still waiting for that sun.)

The tangy, tart bite of rhubarb combined with a buttery shortbread crust and cool whipped cream; the bitter char on a hot roast fresh out of the oven set against the mild sweetness of freshly plucked asparagus; this is the tune of spring, and I sing it at the top of my lungs after what seems to have been years of cold and dreary days.

But there is another taste that has become a spring tradition. Like congealed cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, I hold it sacred even though it is laden with ingredients I can’t pronounce, and I eat it one overly sweet bite at a time. This little chocolate tradition is egg-shaped and stuffed with a creamy center that oozes sweetness and memories with each bite. Of course I’m talking about Cadbury Creme Eggs.

I have no intention of ending this tradition just because I am no longer a child. But the list of ingredients did deter me a bit -- until I decided to make my own. In my version, the interior is created using a generous amount of butter, Lyle’s golden syrup instead of corn syrup, vanilla bean, salt, and a couple of subtle drops of orange blossom water, which is optional but gives each bite of this homemade version a soft perfume.

Place the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer that has been fitted with the paddle attachment (this can also be done by hand or with a hand mixer). Add the golden syrup, salt, orange blossom water (if using), vanilla seeds, and vanilla extract. Mix on medium-low to combine, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula to make sure everything is mixed well. Turn the mixer to low and slowly add the powdered sugar. Mix until completely smooth, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary.

Place a third of the mixture into a small bowl and add enough yellow food coloring to obtain your desired color. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap and put into the freezer for at least 15 minutes; your mixture must be very cold while you work with it.

When the sugar mixture is thoroughly chilled, remove from the freezer. Working quickly, take about ½ teaspoon of the yellow “yolk” mixture and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the mixture.

Once the yolks are complete, place them on a plate or a sheet tray covered with parchment and then put that back into the freezer.

Now, scoop out a tablespoon of your “whites” and roll it into a ball. Repeat with the rest of the white portion of the sugar mixture. If the whites are too soft to work with, place back into the freezer for a few minutes.

Remove the yolks from the freezer. Place a white in the palm of your hand and gently flatten it a bit. Create an indent in the center to rest the yolk in. Place the yolk in the center of the white, then cover it up and roll the white into an egg shape. If at any point the sugar mixture gets too soft, quickly put it back into the freezer.

Continue this process until all your eggs are complete. Return them to the freezer.

While your eggs are chilling, temper your chocolate or microwave it in 30 second intervals, stirring very well in between. If you use the microwave method, add a tablespoon of canola oil to the melted chocolate and stir well; this will give you a little more flexibility with your chocolate. You will not, however, get as nice of a crack as you bite into the egg.

Working with one egg at a time, remove the egg from the freezer and stick a toothpick in it. Dip the egg into the chocolate and carefully let the excess chocolate drip off. Place the other end of the toothpick into something – like a yam, perhaps – while the chocolate sets.

Place the chocolate-covered egg into the fridge for 10 minutes while the chocolate sets. Carefully remove the toothpick from the egg and cover up the small hole with a little bit of tempered chocolate.

You are eating the wrong chocolate. Someone already made your comment below. And here's what I replied to them:

Cadbury Chocolate is fairly bland, like most commercial milk chocolate. There's hardly any cacao in it - it's mostly sugar and milk. And I don't know what you mean by the blanket statement "American chocolate;" we have hundreds if not thousands of chocolate makers in this country, not to mention amazing imports from Latin America. There is more chocolate variety available in the U.S. than probably anywhere in the planet.

Unless you're claiming that all "American chocolate" is like Hershey's, which no one cooks with unless you count S'mores. Or like the outside of cheap candy bar, which, again, no one cooks with.

It may taste like a Cadbury egg, but is it halal? Seems Cadbury and company want to appease Muslims and so they are making Easter candy for a religion that does not even celebrate Easter. So if you really want this to be like a Cadbury egg, bow down to the prophet.

You know something being halal doesn't change actually change it in any way, right? They're not injecting it with terrorist jizz or anything. Being halal doesn't affect the chemical composition of a thing any more than being kosher does, it's just a way of preparing meat and animal tissue. It also only makes sense for them to want to make their product appeal to as many groups of people as possible, they're a candy company, their aim is to sell candy, not promote your religion. The only reason they even sell Easter candy is because Easter is a huge consumer holiday (third under Christmas and Halloween) and they want in on the action. Did you honestly think they were selling festive junk food as an expression of their deep and true love of Jesus Christ?

Not only am I a Halal foodie, but I LOVE Cadbury Creme Eggs to bits, just like many normal candy-loving kids and adults everywhere at this time of the year. I mean, we all need to eat right, regardless of religion. And food isn't made to feed religion - it's made to feed hearts, minds and souls all around the world, Muslims and Christians and Jews and Buddhists and atheists alike. If there's one thing we can all share and bond on, it's the fact that at a basic-level, as humans, we all appreciate good food and having different beliefs does not change that. Thank you to those who could focus on what we all do share :)

Anyways, thanks for the recipe Ashley! Though I wish I knew where to get orange blossom water and Lyle's golden syrup from :/

They wont taste anything like Cadbury cream eggs though..The ingredients are completely different to the proper ones and the Cadburys chocolate is what makes them taste so good!:)You can't substitute the chocolate either.. American chocolate is terrible! :(

Cadbury Chocolate is fairly bland, like most commercial milk chocolate. There's hardly any cacao in it - it's mostly sugar and milk. And I don't know what you mean by the blanket statement "American chocolate;" we have hundreds if not thousands of chocolate makers in this country, not to mention amazing imports from Latin America. There is more chocolate variety available in the U.S. than probably anywhere in the planet.

Unless you're claiming that all "American chocolate" is like Hershey's, which no one cooks with unless you count S'mores. Or like the outside of cheap candy bar, which, again, no one cooks with.

Ummmm Max, as of a couple of years ago...Cadbury's is American owned!!! So technically...it IS American Chocolate...now! (That's probably why Dr. Insomnia doesn't like it....!) As a British chocolate, it ruled the British (and British owned) market for decades!!

Wow - what a sin! It was real fun to make them, even if we have no cup measure at home. We made them without lactose, with dark chocolate and magarine. Normaly we couldn't eat such sweets because of the ingredients, so this is a nice alternative for choc & sugar overdose.

I made these and they are wonderful-yes sweet and rich, but hardly so in comparison to the real deal. And made with 'real' ingredients. Impressive to cut in half, but admittedly VERY finicky to make. Very finicky.

Um, Golden Syrup is quite possibly the worst ingredient suggestion ever. All it does is make the recipe have a sickeningly strong caramel taste. So I'm sure whoever created this recipe thinks that they have somehow outsmarted Cadbury but all they have really shown is how completely ignorant they are of the difference in sweetening agents.

Yes, anyone who likes the taste of something you don't like the taste of is wrong and bad and stupid, you and you alone know which are the correct foods. It's not as though it's a matter of taste or anything.

I've just made these, skipping colouring the center both to save time and not use food coloring, honey instead of golden syrup, and with almond extract instead of orange blossom water. They turned out perfectly, and I'm going to have a hard time stopping myself from eating them all before Easter dinner!

We're making these tonight in preparation for Easter. I'm planning on flavoring some of them orange and some of them lemon flavored. Do you think it would work to dye the yolks with saffron? I don't generally use any food coloring, and don't really want to buy some just for this.

I made these yesterday and they are wonderful! They are quite easy to make and would be great to do with kids once you have the process down (or at least a good understanding of it). The other reviews are correct- the 'yolks' and 'whites' must be very cold-work near your freezer. Also, another reviewer commented on the amount of 'yolk' (said separating dying 1/3 of the mixture is too much) and I agree- I had about 6 extra yolks (so I made some mini yolk-only eggs!). Also, great advice on inserting the toothpicks into a potato; however, you will need to stabilize your potato(s) somehow (I wished I had cut off the bottom of mine, as it wanted to roll over once the toothpicks were inserted. My husband is not a Cadbury Egg fan, but he loved these!